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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29301603">Azu week 2021</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eatgreass/pseuds/Eatgreass'>Eatgreass</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rusty Quill Gaming Events [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Azu has a badass, Azu makes friends, Azu's marbles, Double Drabble, Fluff, Gen, I created mary shelley, no beta I'm so tired all of the time, please give azu healthy coping mechanisms 2021, will update tags as I go</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:28:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,274</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29301603</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eatgreass/pseuds/Eatgreass</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Azu week 2021!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Azu &amp; Amelia Earhart (Rusty Quill Gaming), Azu &amp; Grizzop drik Acht Amsterdam, Azu &amp; Howard Carter (Rusty Quill Gaming), Azu &amp; everyone, Azu/Kiko (Rusty Quill Gaming), Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan &amp; Azu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rusty Quill Gaming Events [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2152122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Heart of Aphrodite</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Azu will act, at least temporarily, in her own self interest.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Because I don't want to name the chapters, they're just going to be the weekly quotes. In addition, I just found out about Azu week, so today all we have is a double drabble. I have so much actual homework to do, but I really do care for Azu, so I must do this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span> Azu grew up slowly, quaintly, with a heart bigger than anybody could see and a smile the same way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She did not grow up in a religious home, and she did not grow up in a religious city. The gods were real, and one day she would be taken by them in death, so she needn’t fear. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yes, Azu was happy in her life of comfort, and a good life it was, too. But Azu had a heart that had grown far too big for her body, and so she left when she was offered a place in the temple of Aphrodite. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had nearly given up right there, when she had seen the way her friends and family cried for her, when she had the conversation with Chinua about leaving with the priests. She had nearly given it all up, for Azu could not bear to see the people she loved grieving for her new life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knew that that was not the reason people were crying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she also knew that they were not happy tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu did very little in her self interest, and becoming a priestess of Aphrodite was not something she would give up willingly. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Azu and Carter play marbles.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Azu week is turning out a lot happier than Sasha week.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Carter,” said Azu, as the crew disintegrated into their factions. The kobolds and Cel went one way; Siggif, Frederick, and Kiko another; and Zolf, Wilde, Hamid, and Barnes their own way. Amelia left for her own corner of the ship, and so did Carter. Azu grabbed his shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” he asked. “Look, I’m sorry about your marbles. I didn’t think you’d notice one gone missing, and it’s so </span>
  <em>
    <span>boring </span>
  </em>
  <span>on shift that I needed something to do, and they were just sitting out-” he looked guiltily away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh!” said Azu. “Would you like some marbles?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sort of,” said Carter, now red in the face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come with me,” said Azu, pulling him by the arm. “I have something I would like to show you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carter followed at her heels. “What is it? I don’t like surprises- I mean, okay, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>do, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but only the knowing bit. I don’t like the waiting bit-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu opened her door and pulled Carter in, dragging him so that they were both sitting on the floor. “Have you ever played marbles before?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carter nodded, and then shook his head, an odd, circular motion. Azu just looked confused. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” said Carter. “I mean- I did once, but it hit my friend in the eye, and we all got in trouble, so I haven’t played since. I don’t remember much about the game.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu nodded. “Marbles can be dangerous. Here- we draw a circle out, like this.” Azu demonstrated drawing out a circle for the marbles. She handed Carter a taw, and he absently ran it through his fingers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I like marbles,” said Azu, “Because they are not only a game, but they are beautiful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carter nodded, placing the marble in front of him. “How many do you have?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Marbles? Many.” Azu reached into her bag and pulled out a handful, dropping them into Carter’s hands. They spilled over the sides. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“These are yours,” she said. “Should we play for keeps?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carter’s eyes lit up. “A betting game?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes.” Azu looked upwards, thinking. “I have not played marbles with stakes in a long time. The priests at the temple did not believe in individual possessions in seminary.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carter wrinkled his nose. “That’s stupid. How do you make sure one person doesn’t steal if everyone owns everything?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu chuckled. “I suppose you don’t. My best two marbles went missing at that temple, although I don’t mind. Whoever wanted them must have felt it necessary to have them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Right. Let’s play,” said Carter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Azu nodded at his pile of marbles. “Put half of them in the circle for play.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carter did so, and the game commenced. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu won, and quickly at that, scooping the marbles back into her bag of holding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re so </span>
  <em>
    <span>good!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu smiled. “You are much better than anybody else on this ship.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have you played with many other people on this ship?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” said Azu. “But you are much better than Hamid and Kiko.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carter cracked a grin. “ ‘just have to keep playing until I’m good enough to beat you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I doubt you will ever be that good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ooh. Smack talk.” said Carter. "It’s getting serious now, isn’t it. I didn’t know Aphrodite allowed her followers to do that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is not smack talk if it is merely a fact, Howard,” said Azu, but she smiled as she opened the door for him. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A short drabble.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Azu enjoyed watching the horizon. The vengeance, despite the name, was a lovely ship. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite the spikes, as well. Azu could see, through the well tarnished wood and shining metal that Amelia had cared a great deal. Looking at the Amelia she knew now, Azu could </span>
  <em>
    <span>still </span>
  </em>
  <span>see how ardently Amelia was trying to be all the crew expected of her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The toll it took on the captain was evident, and Azu wished desperately that she could be some sort of comfort, but Earheart’s breed of broken-heartedness had never been her true forte. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu thought about the meaning of uselessness. </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I came into this week a bit unprepared, so it's nowhere near as long as my Sasha week was. I feel a little bad about that, but oh well. I can do what I can.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Azu stands up for her friends.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Azu saw anger flash Hamid’s face, and she put a hand on his shoulder. Though Hamid was not quick to anger, he could kill the entire group if he wanted to. Of course, Azu trusted him to keep his temper in check. But it was odd,  having such formidable friends. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu shoved Hamid behind her, ignoring his affronted sound of protest, and stood, looming over the assailant. Azu, loath to admit it, felt a kind of sick satisfaction in the way the man quivered in fear. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are you?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look- look-” She almost felt sorry for him. “I’m not doing nothing, you don’t have to-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What. Are you. Doing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just-” He looked close to crying, now. “Just my job!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zolf nodded from behind her. “One of Shoin’s lot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu looked at the man for conformation, and he nodded, wide eyed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>‘My family,” said the man, gasping. “Shoin- he said they could be safe. Or at least a part of him told me that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Safe from what?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The veins. The kobolds. Everything- look- they need the money. Please don’t- don’t hurt me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I won’t,” said Azu. “But you must promise something to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Any- anything-” he gasped out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do not continue to aid Shoin,” she said. “Your family is not worth more than mine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Got it,” he said, face still pale. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good,” said Azu, and nodded to her group. “We can go now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what?” asked Zolf. “Just leave him there?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” said Azu, glancing back. “He’s nothing more than a poor wretch.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. “I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.” -Mary Shelley</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A scene I would really like to happen at the end of rqg.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“No,” said Azu. “I won’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>let </span>
  </em>
  <span>you hurt my friends. I forbid it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shelley laughed, high pitched and languid. “You don’t get a say, dear girl.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu stepped up before the throne, so that she could face Shelley, looking her in the eye. “I could kill you right here. You aren’t a fighter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shelley let out a cackle and smiled, “I’m the only thread that holds the world together!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So was Mr. Ceiling. Or-” she glanced back at her friends- “That’s what I was told, anyways.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So many people,” mused Shelley, “Told me that my writing was drab. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dull. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Realistic. But to put someone back together-” And here, Shelley grinned wide, pulling Cel to the front of the group with her charisma- “I thought </span>
  <em>
    <span>somebody </span>
  </em>
  <span>at least, would appreciate the wonders of science.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Science is-” Cel’s voice broke, and they waved their hands. “Not this!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cel,” said Azu. Cel looked at Azu. “I will handle this,” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For once, Cel was silent, and Azu stepped up, hand on her axe, to Shelley. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not a genius,” said Azu, voice wavering. She </span>
  <em>
    <span>hated </span>
  </em>
  <span>hurting people. “You’re not a mad scientist. You’re not Victor. You’re just a woman with delusions of grandeur.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shelley’s eyes gleamed with mirth. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Azu, and no one other than </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mary Shelley, </span>
  </em>
  <span>writer. Necromancer. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Queen. </span>
  </em>
  <span>And </span>
  <em>
    <span>you, </span>
  </em>
  <span>well-” Shelley paused, raising her arms in the air, causing the cavern above the party to shake. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You </span>
  </em>
  <span>will be </span>
  <em>
    <span>dead.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu plunged into combat with the zombies, for once, the first one off her feet, fueled by her anger and viciousness.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yeah, Azu rolled nat20 on initiative</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don’t seem to matter very much, do they?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Azu has a conversation with a lost friend.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Hello,” said Azu. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Grizzop gave her no answer, and Azu did not turn to look beside her, afraid that if she did, the goblin would disappear. Azu whispered a quick prayer to Artemis and Aphrodite, thanking them for a last goodbye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” said Azu, still resolutely looking away, “That I let go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She felt a hand on her thigh, and a shrill voice speaking. “It wasn’t your fault.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How could it not have been?” asked Azu. Calm. Collected. Comforting, as she always must be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well for starters, you didn’t let go,” said Grizzop. “I opened my eyes during the planeshift.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You did?” Azu almost looked at Grizzop, but averted her eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s all right,” he said. “I won’t disappear if you look at me. Might go in a couple minutes, though.” He chucked, in a languid way that had never been the way Grizzop talked on earth. “I have a big hunt ahead of me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu looked at Grizzop, and all the emotions threatened to spill out of her. What caught in her throat most was how </span>
  <em>
    <span>normal </span>
  </em>
  <span>he looked. How much like the living he was, and how little she could tell the difference. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked softer. Happier. Less rushed, and more excited, rather than anticipatory. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it a good hunt?” asked Azu, after a moment of consideration. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The best.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really,” she said, kicking pebbles absently. “You seem… happy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve missed you, Azu,” he said, and she felt him climb to her shoulders, resting contentedly on her head. “It’s been good, but a hunt just isn’t a hunt without friends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You will see me soon enough, I expect,” said Azu. “Although I do not believe I will be able to stay for the hunt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s alright,” said Grizzop. “It’s not celestial if we can’t see our friends, is it? And with any luck, I won’t see you there for a very long time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thirty years,” said Azu. “Maybe. If the disease and the death and the… and the </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything </span>
  </em>
  <span>else don’t get to me first.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been hunting with only my lady for so long,” said Grizzop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” said Azu. “I will… I will come hunt with you for a space, when it all ends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I died in ancient Rome,” said Grizzop. “Sasha told you, she told me she told you, before she left to her own domain. But it’s been more lifetimes than I can count.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How is Sasha?” asked Azu, “And how are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sasha’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>great,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>said Grizzop. “She came to hunt with me, with new bones and muscle for a while, but eventually she found her own place. Hestia,” said Grizzop, quietly. “Always thought she’d be a Hermes follower, with how much she enjoyed nicking things, but she grew a lot in those fifty years. She created a hearth for others, and so I suppose in turn, she was invited into the celestial one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That is nice,” said Azu. “And… you have grown as well?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A wide grin spread across Grizzop’s face. “I have all the time in the world now,” he said. “Is this what it feels like to be a halfling? Or a bloody </span>
  <em>
    <span>elf? </span>
  </em>
  <span>It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>grand.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu smiled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have all the energy in the world,” said Grizzop, “ and all the time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Axu looked up, pulling Grizzop down from her shoulders to wrap him in a tight embrace. “I… Grizzop, I’m so glad to talk to you.” Azu choked up. “And I love you so, so much, Grizzop.” She felt him squirming in her embrace, and let him go. He was flaming bright red, and scratched the back of his ears. “Right, uh… I love you too, Azu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Azu’s face split into such a wide expression of joy it felt as if it would split. “I will see you,” she said. “I will see you again, Grizzop.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>AzuKiko?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I realized I hadn't written any Azukiko, and I probably won't write any more of it since romantic ships are quite possibly the thing I least enjoy writing, but Azu deserves to be soft and happy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Despite being a paladin of Aphrodite, Azu did not engage in romantic endeavors often. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, for she did, and yearned for a kind of life where she could settle down with the one she loved. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only there was so much for her to do, and romance had never made it to the top of Azu’s list. As she held Kiko’s hand, however, staring at the sky, she imagined that in a better time, she could have lived this kind of life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Next to her, Azu felt Kiko sigh, and grip Azu’s hand a little tighter, and Azu’s heart threatened to burst. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She let out a soft “oh,” and Kiko turned to look at her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s just-” Azu sat up as well, wanting to look into Kiko’s beautiful dark brown eyes, “I like this. I like- I like </span>
  <em>
    <span>you.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Kiko giggled, and it took Azu a minute to realize that the other girl was nervous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am not-” said Azu with difficulty- “I am not… </span>
  <em>
    <span>good </span>
  </em>
  <span>at this. But I </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>like you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I like you too,” said Kiko. “But you work for Aphrodite. Shouldn’t you be like- you know… the love master?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I care about people, yes,” said Azu. “That does not mean I am a romantic.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kiko hummed, tracing the rose tattoo that adorned Azu’s arm. “I don’t think it matters if you’re good at it,” said Kiko, and Azu was content to lie on the grass in silence, with a girl she very much liked sitting next to her.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm on tumblr as roll-a-reflex-save. Come talk to me if you want, I'm less depressing in real life?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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